The below article appeared in the Austin American-Statesman on Tuesday, December 14, 2004.

Study Links Autism, Toxic Metals

Some children with disease have deficiency of substance used in detoxifying body, report finds

By Sandy Kleffman

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- Some children with autism have a weakened ability to protect themselves from toxic metals in their bodies, a biochemist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has concluded.

Such children have a severe deficiency of glutathione, the body's most important tool for detoxifying and excreting heavy metals such as mercury and lead, Dr. Jill James reports in a peer-reviewed study published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

James' findings could provide new ammunition for those who suspect that vaccines containing mercury play a role in triggering autism.

The study, which involved 20 children with autism, also suggests a possible intervention for the disorder, which has no known cause or cure.

In an attempt to correct the metabolic imbalance of the children, James gave eight of the participants supplements of folinic acid, a form of folic acid, and vitamin B-12. Their glutathione measurements then improved.

The study did not attempt to quantify changes in autistic behavior.

But Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Virginia Medical School, said she has given similar supplements to many autistic children and noticed a marked improvement in some.

"I don't mean to imply that I can cure autism, but for a subset the results can be dramatic," Mumper said.

Most researchers, including James, say there is a strong genetic component to autism.

But some also suspect that one or more environmental factors -- such as mercury in fish and vaccines, arsenic and chromium in pressure-treated wood, lead in paint, and metals in soil and drinking water -- push genetically vulnerable children over the edge into autism.

"All of these heavy metals are additive, and they all deplete this glutathione," James said.

In recent years, at least five large epidemiological studies have rejected the idea of an autism-vaccine link after comparing autism rates among children who received vaccines containing mercury versus those who did not.

But leaders of the Environmental Working Group, a national organization that seeks to protect children from environmental pollutants, seized upon James' findings to call for additional research into the possibility of an autism-vaccine link.

"These children would be much less able to mount a defense against a contaminant," said Richard Wiles, senior vice president of the group.